What happened

Shares of cloud-based data and analytics specialist Cloudera (CLDR) spiked on Tuesday, closing the trading day up nearly 19%.

The stock's gain follows a report that the company could get acquired. Investors seem to be bidding up shares in hopes that the stock gets bought out at a premium.

A chart showing a line moving higher

Image source: Getty Images.

So what

Citing "people familiar with the matter," Bloomberg reported on Tuesday that Cloudera was exploring a sale, following interest from a potential buyer.

In a follow-up note to investors, DA Davidson analyst Rishi Jaluria raised his price target for the stock from $13 to $15, noting that a sale of the company is "increasingly likely..." The stock closed June 8 at $10.11.

Now what

Investors shouldn't count on profiting from a potential sale of the company. Not only is the price that the company would sell for unclear, but Bloomberg's sources apparently said no deal is certain to come to fruition.

On the other hand, of course, investors also shouldn't rule out the possibility of a sale.